OCT 27 — Malaysia’s farming sector faces a generational challenge. As many experienced farmers grow older, attracting younger Malaysians into agriculture remains a concern. Yet, the issue may not simply be that young people are unwilling to work on farms. It may also reflect the income uncertainty, rising production costs and limited career opportunities associated with traditional farming.

The announcement of three strategic Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) initiatives by the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW) on October 25 offers an opportunity to look at this challenge differently.

The TVET Premium Career Agreement, TVET Jana Desa, and Smart and Green TVET@KKDW Workshops seek to strengthen employment opportunities, support technical entrepreneurship and introduce technology-driven solutions to rural businesses.

These initiatives raise an important question. Rather than focusing only on encouraging more young Malaysians to become farmers, could TVET create new careers and businesses within the wider farming economy?

After all, a young person does not necessarily need to cultivate paddy to contribute to agriculture. They could maintain harvesting machinery, repair irrigation pumps, operate agricultural equipment or develop technical services that help farmers improve productivity.

The distinction matters because the future of agriculture depends not only on who works in the fields, but also on the skilled workers and enterprises supporting farming activities.

Why young people are staying away from farming

The ageing farming population has raised growing concerns about the future of Malaysia’s agricultural sector, particularly the sustainability of paddy cultivation. In May 2026, the Malaysian Paddy Farmers Brotherhood Organization estimated that fewer than five per cent of paddy farmers were aged between 15 and 30, highlighting the challenge of attracting younger generations to the industry.

Although this estimate should not be treated as a comprehensive national census, it reflects concerns about the limited participation of younger generations in paddy cultivation.

The challenge extends beyond perceptions of farming as physically demanding work.

For paddy farmers, income depends on several factors, including production costs, planting conditions, access to agricultural inputs and the returns received after harvesting.

A farmer may work throughout a planting season without knowing precisely how much income will remain after expenses.

Concerns about fertiliser delivery delays in Kedah earlier this year further illustrate how agricultural livelihoods depend on timely access to essential inputs. When supplies are delayed, farmers may face difficulties managing planting schedules and costs.

For younger Malaysians considering their career options, such uncertainties matter.

From a behavioural economics perspective, career decisions are influenced not only by expected income, but also by perceived risks, financial security and opportunities for future advancement.

A young person who has watched their parents manage the uncertainties of paddy farming may be reluctant to enter the same occupation, particularly when other jobs appear to offer more predictable earnings.

This does not necessarily mean that younger generations have lost interest in agriculture. It may indicate that the economic opportunities available within the sector need to evolve.

TVET Jana Desa and the opportunity beyond farming

The newly announced TVET Jana Desa initiative is particularly relevant to this challenge.

Its focus on helping graduates establish technical enterprises within their own districts could create opportunities connected to existing rural economic activities.

For paddy-growing areas such as Perlis and Kedah, this approach could extend beyond encouraging young people to become farmers themselves.

Paddy cultivation requires machinery, irrigation facilities, maintenance services and increasingly specialised technical knowledge.

Consider a TVET graduate trained in mechanical maintenance.

Instead of seeking employment only in an urban industrial area, the graduate could potentially establish a small enterprise servicing agricultural machinery used by farmers in nearby villages.

Another graduate with electrical or automation skills might provide maintenance services for irrigation pumps or other agricultural equipment.

These examples illustrate potential applications of TVET Jana Desa rather than businesses already established under the new initiative.

Such enterprises could generate income for young people while providing practical support to existing farmers.

This creates a different form of generational participation in agriculture.

A farmer’s child may not wish to cultivate the family’s paddy field, but could still contribute to the farming economy through technical services or entrepreneurship.

However, starting a business requires more than technical competency.

Graduates need access to equipment, working capital, customers and reliable demand.

Without these conditions, even well-trained individuals may struggle to sustain their enterprises.

The involvement of farmers’ organisations, cooperatives and agricultural agencies could therefore be important in connecting young entrepreneurs with potential customers.

For example, groups of farmers could explore shared arrangements for machinery maintenance, allowing them to access technical services while helping young enterprises develop a more stable customer base.

Such models would need to reflect local demand and farmers’ ability to pay.

The objective should not merely be to increase the number of businesses established, but to develop enterprises capable of generating sustainable income.

Linking skills to real employment opportunities

The TVET Premium Career Agreement provides another important dimension.

Under the initiative, employers are expected to participate in determining competencies, placement requirements and salary packages for selected training programmes before trainees are recruited.

This approach recognises that training is more valuable when the skills developed match actual employment needs.

For the farming economy, similar partnerships could involve agricultural machinery companies, engineering service providers, food-processing businesses and other enterprises connected to rural production.

Graduates could acquire competencies that are relevant to employers while gaining clearer information about possible

However, the location of employment also matters.

A graduate may obtain a higher-paying job in a major industrial centre, but relocating can involve additional expenses for housing, transport and daily living.

For some young people, working closer to home may offer advantages if suitable employment and competitive earnings are available.

This does not mean that rural youth should be discouraged from moving to cities. Migration can provide valuable experience and improve economic mobility.

Rather, the challenge is to ensure that leaving home is a choice rather than the only practical route towards career advancement.

Developing employment opportunities linked to rural industries could help expand those choices.

Technology must solve farmers’ real problems

The third initiative, Smart and Green TVET@KKDW Workshops, could complement these efforts by encouraging technical solutions involving automation, artificial intelligence, machinery monitoring and energy efficiency.

In agriculture, technology has the potential to improve efficiency and reduce dependence on certain labour-intensive activities.

For example, monitoring equipment could help identify problems in irrigation systems, while improved maintenance practices could reduce machinery downtime.

However, technology should not be introduced simply because it is new.

For small-scale farmers, affordability remains a major consideration.

An advanced system may promise better efficiency, but farmers must still assess its purchase price, maintenance requirements and potential financial returns.

A technology that costs more than the savings it generates may offer little practical benefit to a farmer already facing narrow profit margins.

This is where TVET graduates could play a useful role.

Rather than concentrating only on sophisticated innovations, technical training could encourage solutions that respond to everyday problems faced by farmers.

Affordable equipment maintenance, practical irrigation monitoring and accessible repair services may provide immediate economic value.

The three TVET initiatives could therefore complement one another.

The Premium Career Agreement can strengthen the connection between skills and industry needs. TVET Jana Desa can support technical enterprises within rural communities, while Smart and Green Workshops can encourage solutions that improve productivity and efficiency.

Together, they could help create a more supportive environment for younger generations to participate in the farming economy.

From training graduates to building rural businesses

Nevertheless, TVET cannot address every challenge facing paddy farmers.

Issues involving fertiliser distribution, agricultural prices, irrigation infrastructure and farm profitability require broader agricultural policies and effective implementation.

Skills development should complement these measures rather than replace them.

The more important question is how training institutions, agricultural agencies and local industries can work together to identify opportunities that are economically viable.

For example, technical training providers could engage farmers’ organisations to understand which machinery services are frequently needed, where maintenance support is limited and what farmers can reasonably afford.

This information could help institutions design training and entrepreneurship programmes that respond to actual market demand.

Graduates interested in establishing businesses could then receive guidance on financial planning, customer development and managing operating costs.

Such support is particularly important because technical expertise and business management are different competencies.

A graduate may know how to repair machinery but still require assistance in pricing services, managing cash flow and maintaining customer relationships.

From a human capital perspective, the value of training is realised when acquired skills can be applied productively and generate economic returns.

For rural communities, those returns could extend beyond individual graduates.

A viable technical enterprise may support farmers, purchase supplies from local businesses and eventually create additional employment.

However, these benefits should be assessed through actual outcomes rather than assumed from the number of training participants.

The success of TVET Jana Desa, for instance, could be evaluated by examining business survival, income growth and the number of sustainable jobs created.

For the Premium Career Agreement, graduate earnings, employment stability and career progression would be useful measures.

For Smart and Green Workshops, practical improvements in productivity, operating costs and technology affordability would provide meaningful indicators.

Such evaluations could help determine whether the initiatives are contributing to lasting economic development.

A new generation, a different role in agriculture

Malaysia’s ageing farming population presents an important challenge, but the response need not focus exclusively on persuading younger people to follow the same occupations as previous generations.

Agriculture is supported by a wider economic network involving machinery, maintenance, technology, logistics and business services.

These activities can provide alternative ways for young Malaysians to participate in the sector.

For a young person growing up in a paddy-growing community, success should not necessarily require choosing between becoming a traditional farmer and leaving the village altogether.

There could be a third possibility: developing a skilled career or business that supports the agricultural economy while remaining connected to the local community.

The three newly announced TVET initiatives provide an opportunity to explore this possibility.

Their long-term contribution will depend on whether training, employment partnerships, entrepreneurship support and technology development can be connected to the needs of rural industries.

Ultimately, attracting a new generation into Malaysia’s farming economy is not only about changing attitudes towards agriculture. It is also about creating opportunities that offer reasonable incomes, manageable risks and prospects for growth.

The next generation may not all become farmers. But with the right skills and opportunities, they could help determine how farming survives, modernises and grows.

That may be one of the most meaningful contributions TVET can make to Malaysia’s rural future.

*Dr Nuraini Abdullah is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Business & Communication, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP).

**This is the personal opinion of the writers or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.